Saturday, June 29, 2013

Home United have announced they have released Japanese forward Masato Fukui.

It should come as no surprise as the 24-year-old slot in the team have been questioned as he has not finished in many of the games he started and have even been relegated to the bench where he was not used at all.

This spell trouble as that mean Home United head coach Paul Lee does not trust the 24-year-old and
considering the fact Lee has always maintained he believed foreigners should be 1 notch if not 2 above
local, Fukui was doomed.

New Warriors FC coach Alex Weaver chose to take the positives
from his team's defeat against the S.League leaders, as counterpart Tay
Peng Kee praised his opponents' improvement

Former Hougang United gaffer Weaver, who replaced
predecessor V. Selvaraj after the ex-Singapore international endured a
miserable season, believes the result proved his team could cut it with
the best.

“We did a lot right [in the game],” he said.

“We looked far more organized, far more disciplined [and] we were sharp defensively.

“We restricted the team at the top of the league to very few chances, and that was pleasing.”

The Englishman also insisted that the performance was a sign of better things to come for his men.

“If they are top of the league then that gives us a gauge of where we are and where we could be,” Weaver claimed.

“So it was very pleasing despite the result.”

His
Tampines counterpart Tay Peng Kee was full of praise for his
adversaries, admitting his surprise at the organization and defensive
solidity of Weaver’s men.

“To be honest, I think they [Warriors] played well; the last time I saw them they were totally different,” he recalled.

“They were tighter, they were more organized, and played with more life as compared to the last game.”

The ex-Korean international also revealed that right-back Ismail Yunos
was taken to the hospital after suffering a knock to the neck with less
than half a minute gone, while Juma’at Jantan was taken off at half-time
due to hamstring problems that has persisted since his time at former
club LionsXII.

Both coaches also touched on the performances of their new signings, whom they believe will get better with time.

“Choi plays in the second division and Kwon in the third; they are young
and I'm still helping them to improve in the S.League,” Lee said about
new additions Choi Jaewon and Kwon Dakyung.

“I think Kwon was not bad today, it was his first game [and] I think he can show a better [performance] in the next game.”

Tokijan similarly praised midfielder John Wilkinson, who made his debut
in their League Cup defeat against Brunei DPMM in their previous game.

“This is his second game [and] he has yet to adapt but he is working
hard on it, and he is working with Sazali [Salleh] in the middle [of the
pitch],” he pointed out.

“He is an experienced player; he is an asset to the team [and] some sort
of motivation to the team. The only thing is [for him] to blend in with
the foreigners and the locals quickly.

“I think he didn’t play for quite some time, a few months; this is his
second game, he’s there but he needs another two, three games to get the
kick of it.”

“With the hard work [of the players], of course they deserved the win,” he declared.

“It’s a very fair situation: I'm not defensively-oriented, I'm attacking-oriented. So even though Hougang had a few chances to score, my team was very calm. When we were attacking, we had numbers, so I'm very satisfied with the team’s attitude towards the attack.

“I'm very happy with the win, as long as we take three points and we jump [up the table].”

Salim was also pleased with the display of overlapping play from his full-backs, which helped to make their attacks more “fluid”.

“You can see my right full-back [Ang] Zhiwei and left full-back Rosman Sulaiman, they have a free hand to do the overlapping and that was very encouraging to see, [and] I want to see them doing more of this,” he said.

Salim also promised that new signing Theerawekin Seehawong, who was not involved due to some unsettled paperwork, would be more than capable of filling the void left by the departing Khalid Hamdaoui.

“With him around, without him around; the team still performs,” he said about the former Dutch Under-21 star, who lit up the league with his performances.

“I'm looking forward for him [Theerwawekin] to play; he will be much better than Khalid, I guarantee you this.”

Johana admitted that his side could have done with more patience in the second half, which they dominated, but refused to blame his players.

“In the second half, we had major control of the game,” he said, adding that the lack of preparation time due to the haze situation in recent days did not help.

“If only Liam Shotton had been more patient [and] pushed the ball forward, It would have been a goal. With a little bit of speed, [he would have been in a] one-versus-one situation.

“I'm quite frustrated because we’ve failed in our first 15 minutes: we had planned nicely and sadly it didn’t go our way and our opponents managed to steal it.

“Hopefully this will teach them a lesson. We cannot be attacking and not get the win.

“We have to go back and see which areas we need to overcome and hopefully we can prepare ourselves for the forthcoming match next week.

“It is very important to be able to stay focused… We have to calm them down when they are in attack to make the passes much more accurate and [help] the players be quick enough to react.”

Woodlands Wellington show there is life after Khalid Hamdaoui as they defeated Hougang United to move into the top 6.

The 32-year-old had been Woodlands most impressive player this season and a reason for many of their impressive performance but with the club and the player unable to come to an agreement on an extnesion on his contract, the Moroccan have leave in the transfer window.

But so what, is the Rams answer although it was an own goal gave them 3 points to move into the top 6 ahead of Harimau Muda.

The Malaysians side lose to Geylang International 2-0 at the Bedok Stadium.

Skipper Jozef Kaplan was once again the difference for the Eagles as he scored once and provided the assist for the second for Fabian Kwok to wrap up the three points.
Geylang International
Joey Sim (GK), Khairulnizam Jumahat, Khayrulhayat Jumat, Norihiro Kawakami, Jalal, Yasir Hanapi (Basil Teo 76'), Fabian Kwok, Taufiq Ghani (Shotaro Ihata 60'), Safwan Rahim (Andrew Tan 46'), Wahyudi Wahid, Jozef Kaplan (C)

Friday, June 21, 2013

Due to the weather conditions caused by the haze and in consultation with StarHub, the title sponsors, both the StarHub League Cup 2013 semi-final matches which were scheduled for tonight, 20th June will be postponed.

As a result of the postponement of tonight’s semi-final matches, the finals scheduled on Sunday, 23rd June will also need to be rescheduled. The semi-final and final matches will now be rescheduled to the period between 2nd and 15th September 2013.

DPMM show why they are League Cup champions as they defended their trophy with an amazing 5-2 victory against Tanjong Pagar who took a two-goal lead into the break thanks to Hafiz Nor and Monsef Zerka.

Surely few will give DPMM much chance that first half display but two minutes after halftime, DPMM pulled one thanks to Joao Moreira and the Portuguese striker then turned provider in the 55th minute when he broke free down the middle and played the ball through to Arturas Rimkevicius, who stabbed his effort past the line.

Having seen their comfortable lead vanish before their very eyes, Tanjong Pagar then had an excellent chance to edge ahead once more three minutes after the hour mark when they were awarded a penalty after Ahmad Latiff had been felled by Tales dos Santos inside the area, only for Zerka to screw his shot wide.

And they were made to pay for that miss as Moreira got his second to put the visitors 3-2 ahead, before Rimkevicius grabbed a second of his own to ensure it was DPMM who had a two-goal lead this time.

Tampines Rovers lost again to Balestier Khalsa, this time in the spotkick, after they drew their match 3-3.

The Tigers open the scoring in the quarter-final at the Toa Payoh Stadium after a left-wing cross from Qiu Li was inexplicably headed by Ismadi Mukhtar into his own net.

However, it did not last long with the visitors equalising six minutes later when Shahdan Sulaiman's freekick was deflected into the path of Aleksandar Duric, who made no mistake in smashing a volley home from six yards out, but Balester reclaimed the lead again when Kim Min-ho skipped past a challenge on the edge of the box and smashed a left-footed strike past Ridhuan Barudin.

Tampines pulled level once more in the second period when debutant Ruzaini Zainal, who came on for Ismadi just before the break, tore down the right and whipped in a cross that was swept home by Khairul Amri, and they took the lead when Jaslee Hatta, in a bid to prevent Shahdan's neat pass from reaching Jamil Ali, could only stab the ball into his own net.

But with nine minutes remaining, Zulkiffli Hassim did brilliantly to create space for himself on the edge of the area with a sharp turn and fired his shot into the bottom corner to make it 3-3 and send the game into extra time.

With neither side able to find a fourth goal in extra-time it went to penalties where Balestier won 4-3.

Both Ivan Bosjnak and who were released by the Bruneian club DPMM Brunei have step forward to the press and whacked the club as they believed they had been unfairly treated by the club.

Ivan Bosjnak, the 2006 World Cup
player, expressed his incredulity on the club’s abrupt termination of his
contract three months into the season.

For someone who has played alongside the likes of
Luka Modric, Verdan Corluka and Bosko Balaban at professional level,
Bosjnak revealed his shock at this level of treatment.

“I have never seen anything like this,” muttered the father-of-one.

“It’s weird and crazy. When I speak with them, it’s finished. I want to do something, (but) things happen.

“I just want to say, this is not the way to shoot and ill-treat a player who has serious injury.”

The former club marquee player had only recently
recovered from a series of injuries he was afflicted with since joining
the sultanate’s sole professional club early this year.

The most serious case was his skull injury that was
inflicted during the team’s 3-3 draw with Hougang United in their first
home match of the season.

“I have serious injury,” he continued. “I have
broken my bone and blood went into my brain and I could have gotten into
big trouble.

“Second game I broke my bone (skull). I need to
rest for two months. I didn’t do anything and I said I would be back on
the field as soon as possible.”

Bosnjak would subsequently make only four
appearances for DPMM and last featured in their 0-2 loss to Warriors FC
in Brunei before the sudden termination.

He felt the cancellation totally unjustified
because he believed he had yet to display his full array of abilities
that made him a Croatian international and feature in the World Cup.

“Maybe I went back too soon and I got one more small injury,” he lamented.

“Now two games I play and I build my power up after two months out, my contract was finished.

“When I need peace and a few more games to fully get my physical and power, now this (happens).”

The grievance came as the multiple domestic title
winner in his homeland felt DPMM were impatience and unfairly sacked him
due to his lack of goals after so few appearances due to injury.

Bosjnak added: “If I had played 12 games and they told me I wasn’t good enough, I would have said, ‘ok, I will now go home.’

“If I am (involved as a coach or technical staff at
a) club, I will never release somebody with injury threat. I will give
him (time) to come back and get back into shape and in peak condition.

“If after 10 games (he is still) no good, then he goes.”

The former Croatia Zagreb and Genk forward
expressed his exasperation in the manner his fellow new imports were
selected and the near-impossible task his compatriot coach Verjan
Simunic has in repeating the solid run of results this season as he had
last year through these new faces.

“You don’t buy five foreigners (simply) because you buy five foreigners. But that’s what they did,” he added.

“Because you put them on field and they cannot play
together. You have to check which kind of player fits then you sign the
player who can bring something to the team.

“For example like me, my style of play requires a
good playmaker. (But) here they just select imports because they like
them, then coach (Simunic) needs to make magic that we can play good,
(which is) not easy.”

Despite his trials in Brunei, Bosjnak is not
looking to hang up his boots just yet. He has revealed his intention to
either continue his career in Southeast Asia, preferably Singapore, or
return home to gradually wind up his career.

“I don’t know and don’t care what happened because
of the way my contract was (abruptly) cancelled,” stated the former
Croatia attacker.

“I am a professional (player) for twenty years and
if for them, doing this is professional they need to work like this. I
cannot say nothing. This is football here and this is not the only club
in the world.

“Now I will be here five more days to settle
everything and speak to my agent. Now I am full healthy and full ready, I
will look for a new club.”

The former New York Red Bulls player was blamed for the two goals
conceded by the team late in the match in their 4-2 win over Geylang
International on April 3, in which Auvray came on for Adi Said in the
61st minute. Auvray was subsequently dropped by coach Vjeran Simunic for
their next game against Tanjong Pagar United.

It was reported that Simunic further humiliated the 31-year-old by
referring to him as "Bob Marley", during an interview with a local
media, in relation to the hippie lifestyle of the musician.

“To be honest, I still can’t believe his comment and in my opinion, it is quite distasteful and unprofessional," Auvray stated.

“I was very offended by the statement and I totally understand that
the staff could be unsatisfied with me as a player, whether I agree or
not.

“My name is Stephane Aurvay, [I am] a professional footballer and I want to be treated as such.”

Auvray also disagreed with the judgment of "poor performance" passed
on him, and felt that he has performed at his best for the team.

“About my performances, all that matters are the facts," he asserted.

“I was recruited as a central midfielder and played the first three games of the season in that position.
“Of course like any other player I made mistakes, but at the end, after those three games I see an undefeated team.”

“A goal-less game against Home United, a 3-3 draw at home to Hougang
United - after we missed two penalties - and a victory in our third game
[against Courts Young Lions]."

While Auvray remains without a club after being officially released
by Brunei’s only professional club, the former Caen youth player is not
too worried about his future as he is confident of his reputation with
clubs in Europe.

“I have always been very professional and respectful in all the clubs I have played for," he claimed.

“Therefore I have a good image in France and on the American
continent. My agent and I will now start to consider new opportunities.”

Singapore won their friendly against Myanmar at Yangon as they defeated the home side 2-0 with goals from Shaiful Esah and Khairul Amri.

Singapore followed up that as they won their second international in a week as they defeated Laos 5-2 after strikes from Indra Sahdan, Hariss Harun and Safuwan Baharudin gave them a 3-0 lead at half-time

But they lost their way in the second period as Laos pulled 2 goals back before Gabriel Quak and Hafiz Rahim make the game safe with their goals.

Selvaraj, who took over at the helm of the Warriors at
the end of last season, has step down after their final hope of silverware this season took a real blow on
Sunday with a 2-1 defeat to DPMM FC in their opening Starhub League Cup
Group D game

The former Singapore international has struggled to get his side to fire and has
been under much pressure all season long.

At present, the
eight-time S.League champions are languishing third from bottom in the
league and were unceremoniously booted out of the RHB Singapore Cup after losing 2-0 to Philippine debutants Global.

Warriors chairman Lam Shiu
Tong confirmed the club have accepted the resignation and stressed that
Selvaraj's efforts had been satisfactory in all areas apart from their
on-field performances.

"We sat down and discussed the situation
and we accepted his [Selvaraj's] decision as we felt it was good for the
club at this moment. We respect his decision and agreed it was beneficial for both parties.

"The
sad truth is that, in football, you can put in a lot of hard work but
it may not commensurated by the results. And a lot of people are looking
at results.

"He [Selvaraj] knows that he has given his best from
the time he started until now. He has been very committed to his job
and worked a good relationship with his players.

"All these
things take time and effort and he's certainly put on a listening ear to
the club and was open to ideas. We were satisfied with his performance
in those areas.

"Unfortunately, the performances and hard results
just weren't coming. That's one of the reasons why this decision has
been delayed till now.

"Had we not been satisfied with the other areas, this perhaps might not have been his decision, but ours much earlier."

The Choa Chu Kang club have moved to appoint former Hougang coach Alex Weaver as coach and the Englishman was
relieved to put his Hougang United time behind him and is eager to push
on at his new club.

Weaver had been "rested" from his post at Hougang by chairman
Bill Ng in April and has since been watching the S-League from the
stands.

It is little wonder now that the Englishman is looking forward to
his new assignment and he feels that with the support from the players
and management, the future looks bright for the Warriors.

“I am excited and [it is] a good challenge for me with the negative momentum the club has had," he said.

"I think it’s the right challenge for the club as well to make this
fresh change and hopefully we can see that reaction [from the team]
immediately this season.

“I am relieved with this new appointment but I do not want to go on
too much about the Hougang experience; it was not the best for me.

“We are certainly building for the future and that is what the club has brought me in to do.

“Fresh, new and different ideas and hopefully we can build a good end
to the season and go on to the next season and really push and move the
club forward.

“I will meet with the players and talk to them about their
experiences with the club and also discuss about the trainings, matches
and formations.”

Weaver certainly has done his homework, having observed the Warriors'
performances and absorbing hearsay from the footballing fraternity of
the Warriors dressing room.

“I have seen and heard a lot externally but bringing in a new
approach to training and obviously depending on what I find out about
what is going on this season, it might just mean letting the players
express themselves a bit more or it might mean providing discipline,
tactically," he explained.

“With the foreign and local players that we have got, there are good
creative attacking players and we have proved that the team can score
goals and [we] just need to stop conceding at the other end.”

It was clear that the 36-year-old has been poring over the Warriors
history books as he spoke of the club's past successes, and he believes
that he will be able to deliver and propel the club up the league
table.

“I am very proud to be here as they won the league title eight times,
[and the] Singapore Cup [four times] and just the fact that it is sort
of a military organization, I think that means it is very much a part of
Singapore and possibly more than just a club," he said.

“We are only five points off the top six and with the new format
within the league, that is what every club is looking for and I feel it
is realistic [to move to top half of the table].”

Sunday, June 9, 2013

It seem Japanese forward Fukui Masato position at Home United may be in doubt as Home United had approach Vitor Borges before the Brazilian choose Balestier Khalsa.

The Japanese forward had always been taken out early in games he started and he has even missed a few games when not injured or suspended.

This spell trouble as that mean Home United head coach Paul Lee does not trust the 24-year-old and
considering the fact Lee has always maintained he believed foreigners should be 1 notch if not 2 above
local, how long can Fukui last in that position.